Tina Turner Tops 2000 Tours

Pop diva Tina Turner — one of rock's most legendary stage performers — went out with a bang in 2000, as her farewell tour grossed $80.2 million to top the earnings list for U.S. tours this year, according to trade magazine Pollstar.

She earned the top spot with a balance of midrange ticket prices and numerous well-attended shows, including 95 performances in North America alone. The figures do not represent earnings from an additional 23 shows that she performed around the world.

Other performers earned spots on the list with different approaches: Barbra Streisand played only four shows, but average ticket prices of greater than $470 pulled in more than $27 million for the pop crooner.

Phish, on the other extreme, played a high quantity of shows before it went on hiatus this fall. Because of lower ticket prices, it enters the list at No. 20, earning $21.4 million.

Boy pop quintet 'N Sync landed the second spot, earning $76.4 million on its "No Strings Attached" tour; the Dave Matthews Band ranked third; KISS, which also had an extensive farewell tour, finished fourth in earnings; and the husband/wife country singing team of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill edged out country pop trio the Dixie Chicks.

Another notable tour to make the list was the "Up in Smoke" extravaganza, which featured rappers Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube. The $22.2 million earned is a high for hip-hop tours, and may pave the way for similar events in the future.

The magazine estimated a total of $1.7 billion in sales of concert tickets in 2000, up from last year's record $1.5 billion.

The average concert ticket price, however, held steady at $43.75 this year, virtually unchanged from last year's $43.63. Between 1998 and 1999, concert ticket prices had jumped 30 percent.